KEIR STARMER says that “if we simply patch up and keep going, then we won’t fix the fundamentals and that’s why reform is so important.”
It’s ironic that this line is deployed not to propose far-reaching change, but to reject it.
Starmer has broken so many pledges he must be running out, but he managed to sacrifice another commitment as an offering to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg yesterday, saying Labour will not end the two-child benefit cap.
Anger at Labour’s abstention when the Tories introduced this revolting policy, which punishes innocent children for being born into large families, was a watershed in Jeremy Corbyn’s run for the Labour leadership in 2015.
Seen as a sign that Labour had lost its soul, it infuriated activists and helped mobilise the campaign for a leader who actually cared about ending child poverty and standing up for the vulnerable. Starmer’s latest betrayal should motivate the left to fight again today: campaigns for the policy changes we need must be built from the grassroots, since nobody at Westminster is putting them forward.
The BBC was forced to apologise for a previous Kuenssberg interview with a Labour leader, when footage of Corbyn was edited in a way that misled viewers about his views on how to respond to a terrorist attack.
No such tricks would be needed to discredit Starmer’s position. If he opposes patching things up and wants to fix the “fundamentals,” why is Labour policy indistinguishable from Conservative policy in almost every area?
It’s all very well to talk of “reform” of public services, but the reforms Labour proposes — in the NHS, for example — are current Tory policy, that is increased reliance on the private sector to carry out NHS work, a refusal to commit to increased funding and rejection of inflation-proofed — let alone restorative — pay awards.
So aligned are the parties’ positions that Wes Streeting accuses the Tories of stealing his policies, while Tory ex-chancellor Sajid Javid is overheard waxing lyrical at summer parties about Streeting’s plans for the health service.
Along with its Tory policies on the NHS and child benefits, Labour has backtracked on investing in a green transition, with Starmer reportedly responding to a presentation on climate policy by Ed Miliband with a rant about how much he hates tree-huggers.
The northern hemisphere is currently experiencing one of the most severe heatwaves on record. Fifteen Italian cities are under extreme weather alerts, with residents warned to stay indoors from 11am to 6pm. More than a third of the US population live in areas currently issued heat warnings. Temperatures exceeding previous records is now a regular event.
We have seen serious disruption to harvests and crop failures in recent years. All projections suggest this is just the beginning.
As well as urgent action to reduce emissions (only possible with major investment in retrofitting buildings and massively extending and improving the reliability of public transport) we need to adapt to a foreseeable future of longer heatwaves and more extreme weather events, from fires to floods. This means investment: higher public spending.
Lenin famously urged comrades to be “as radical as reality itself.” Starmer claims to have returned Labour to the centre ground, implying the previous left leadership was out of touch with British people.
But to millions of people a refusal to get serious on our warming climate is what’s out of touch. Politicians are blocking the exits to a burning building.
Unite, at its policy conference last week, agreed that an “economic system [that] prioritises profiteering and wealth extraction over climate and social responsibility” is not capable of delivering a just transition to a sustainable future.
More and more people understand this. Fixing “the fundamentals” is not possible in our current political and economic framework. If there is no way to express this through traditional political institutions, public anger will find other outlets.
